A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale

My paternal grandmother’s crown was, surprisingly, human-sized. Well, maybe not too surprising, considering that this crown size was the norm for the imperial dragon family of Kargryx. To us dragons, our horns were our “crowns,” our symbol as the rulers of this empire, which was why in our dragon forms, we didn’t wear any crowns or adornments.

Things were different for our humanoid forms, though. Since Mom produced an ice crown for me during my first diplomatic meeting, and wore her own, I already knew dragons did put some weight behind the headwear, and it proved true when my siblings all wore theirs when we met Eltharion in the throne room.

As such, I concluded my grandmother probably didn’t wear the crown often enough, yet … After 2.500 years and also getting absorbed into an ugly toad, the black-red scaled crown was still intact. The power of Kramps’s and Grandmother’s scales, I bet.

Which was why, even after all those years spent inside the magma chambers and, probably, quite some time stuck in the toad, the distinct dragon pheromones were still active on it. Mom did mention she caught a sniff of them, although the scent had vanished enough that dragons who weren’t aware of the “late” empress wouldn’t recognize it as such.

Therefore, Mom told me to hide the crown for now, as Eltharion, supposedly, wasn’t happy with his mother, either. So, it remained in my storage as I was confronting my dragon father … Also, the damn toad’s organ was in Mom’s [Storage Magic]. I would not put that thing anywhere close to any of my other items!

“Drahk-krakrona, k—” As Mom and I were descending to the ground, some of the dragons surrounding Maustoovaka raised their heads, attempting to speak with Eltharion.

However, by exuding his aura, he immediately silenced all of them, even intimidating the two Inferno Nest rulers, at least going by the way they winced.

[“The young whelpling princess’s proficiency in Draconic is lackluster, still. Speak with [Telepathy],”] he ordered, and none argued.

I’ve gotten better … I complained, but kept that thought to myself, since this probably was better for me.

From the look of it, Eltharion was treating this entire situation like a powder keg, so any misunderstanding through words would light the fire into a mighty explosion. Considering he and Mom probably fought just a moment ago, [Telepathy] could prevent such an event since it expressed the user’s thoughts as accurately as they wanted. Emphasis on the could.

Once I landed, the glares of everybody were directly focused on Mom and me, seemingly varying in opinion based on the intensity of the stares. Naturally, the lava and fire dragonkin were wary of me, especially the latter ones, as they viewed me with open hostility, siding with Maustoovaka. Arkanator’s people, though, were much less extreme in their stares, but I guess they probably didn’t like me pulling them into my issues, which culminated in Mom arriving and decimating a good portion of the nest.

My siblings looked neutral, probably to keep up their images, while the empresses all had downtrodden looks, avoiding Mom’s gaze completely. Considering they treated each other like sisters, Mom causing “another problem” that involved her fighting their husband might cause some thorns in their relationship. Although, since they were all dragons, maybe it was viewed differently? Maybe I was just coping …

Lastly, there were the “outsiders” and wyverns. The ice dragon entourage looked like watch dogs as they stared at every single dragonkin outside of the imperial members, although some were taking glances at me—though that was mostly my three uncles who followed Mom here. I wasn’t sure how to describe the holy dragons’ looks, while the wyverns were completely subservient.

Still no notification on anybody’s death, so the fire wyverns should still be alive … But where are they?

[“Hestia,”] Eltharion called.

[“Yes, Fath—Yes, My Emperor,”] I replied.

I was unsure how to address him in this situation. I wanted our relationship to warm up for Mom’s sake, but it felt too awkward to call him as such, considering this event was important enough to summon my homestuck dragon father. Also, I got too used to addressing royalty during an official setting back on Altrust, and this was a diplomatic matter, right now.

It currently was a problem between Inferno Nest and Frozen Nest, and Eltharion was here to diffuse it. This was my best approach.

[“Once again, what have you done here? Recall your entire side of the story.”]

[“Haven’t I told you enough, Eltharion? Do not speak to our daughter with such a tone!”] Mom snapped.

[“I know enough to have seen you rampaging in this nest, nearly killing two dragon rulers, Melloxtressa. There is a limit to what you can enforce as an empress, especially when it is out of your sphere of influence and responsibility!”] Eltharion grinded his teeth. Sparks erupted between them as they both took a step forward, causing an earthquake strong enough to nearly knock me down.

Being small sucks! I lamented as I could only stand in the shadows of everybody around me, literally! I already felt like an ant when I spoke with Mom’s most trusted retainers, but I felt even less significant here.

[“Your rages flares stronger than the hottest flames,”] Eltharion said, his words sounding like an insult. Not only was he a fire dragon, and Kargryxmor dragons especially were known to be battle hungry, yet he was saying this to Mom, an ice dragon. [“Do you not see what you have done? One side is frozen in your true ice, while the other is scorched by my flames. This Nest will require more than a few terraformers to correct, and until that happens, the elemental dissonance will spawn monsters the local fauna can not reliably take on.”]

[“I. Wanted. Our. Daughter. Back! Safe! I did not come here wishing to fight, yet the moment I approached, my eyes were met with the destruction of this area from the infighting of those two dragon rulers. Yet, when I demanded for Maustoovaka to hand me my daughter back, this fool tried to tell me she wasn’t around,”] Mom snarled. [“Do not make me laugh, Eltharion. Every single of your wives would have reacted the exact same way. Calling my rage hotter than even yours, when you still stubbornly refuse to accept our Hestia as our daughter? She is your eight child, Eltharion! THIRD DAUGHTER! Treat her with that respect!”]

[“I will hear nothing more of that, Melloxtressa!”]

Their aura intensified, causing the earth around Mom to freeze while even the stone began to burn around Eltharion. Only with the swift intervention of the three other mother-empresses did they finally stop, as Gyadiosa’s, Gaistrus’s, and Virrflax’s roars were powerful enough to cause some of the weaker wyverns to fall unconscious.

Shit! I screamed internally as I felt my ears get punctured by the glass-shattering sound. It was bad enough I could feel my white flames ignite and start to heal me.

After, probably, a telepathic conversation between the four currently available empresses and their emperor did my interrogation finally resume. Eltharion, surprisingly, also dropped the spikey, cold tone he had before.

[“I have a duty to keep its peace and unity. Princess Hestia, your presence has sparked a conflict I had not expected, one with the potential to end in the deaths of even rank S dragons,”] Eltharion rephrased his initial demand. [“Regardless of my feelings for you, I have granted you the privilege to act on your status as an imperial member of this empire, despite your age. I expected your mental fortitude as a—”]

[“Eltharion!”] Virrflax and Gaistrus shouted in unison.

The great black dragon growled at them, snapping his jaws shut before he turned back to me with eyes closed. [“I have heard what happened from the others. I now require your side of the story of what happened. No falsehood, do you hear? No dragonkin shall lie in front of me, not even my children or wives.”]

… That’s better, I guess?

I let out a sigh and nodded, swearing on Mom’s honor as an empress that I would do no such thing. Once the premise was established, I asked for permission to open my subspace, as before I could say anything, another person was needed first. Not only as my witness, but also as another defendant.

[“Ryra!”] I called out into the open portal, only to see my older brother gorging down on … hotteoks? [“R … Ryra?”]

With the door suddenly opening inside our restaurant, I was surprised to see not only my brother but also Vifi and the twins. All four of them were devouring the food placed on the table, as my maids hurriedly tried to deliver the trays of food from the kitchen, where I heard Priscilla’s loud voice triumphantly stating how she mastered one of my recipes.

Specifically, “hotteok,” a Korean fried pancake made from sweet rice and flour filled with melted brown sugar, cinnamon, and crushed nuts, prepared in a way almost similar to a donut. Since the moment Priscilla started working inside the subspace as our eatery’s sous chef, mostly chef nowadays, she had been absorbing different recipes from us otherworlders. Tamae, Saori, and I have given her a huge cookbook, in other words.

Most of the pastries were from me, and this was why she could cook some Korean food. It also just had to be hotteok … Hearing Ryra take a big bite from the fried pancake, I could hear a loud crunch before the aroma from the filling wafted into my face. The nutty caramel smell created during the frying process felt so fulfilling to my stressed-out heart.

“Lady Hestia!” The twins and my maids rushed over to me after they heard my voice, worriedly asking if I was okay. My maids, especially, looked rather pale as they recounted how frightened they were when I suddenly closed the subspace to fight the toad, only to forget to inform them that I was okay until now. I felt worse than being glared at by the titans around me.

Vifi gave me the usual nonchalant attitude of hers, as she was currently in L.E.P after filling her stomach, but instantly became agitated when I explained why I opened the portal. Hearing my explanation, Ryra, though, began to look exhausted.

“I’m eating,” he complained, taking another bite from the hotteok before his body began to spasm from the sugar rush.

[“I can see you’re eating, but I’m in trouble here! Instead of acting like this, get your ass out of here and help me!”] I shouted, but Ryra looked like he was high … He wasn’t concentrating on my words at all!

… Or maybe he’s trying to avoid stuff. He did get beaten up yesterday. Quite severely, too.

When the dragons began to notice I was stalling with how often I was calling for Ryra to leave the subspace, his mother finally stepped into the subspace and confronted him, confirming my suspicion. Considering he sacrificed himself to protect me from Maustoovaka, I couldn’t feel mad at him.

Yes, we were half-siblings, but our relationship was closer to being strangers …

<[Humanize(Moderate)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>

When Ryra came out of the [Room], I quickly transformed into a dragonewt and jumped at him to give him a huge hug, squeezing as tightly as I could. Whispering, “Thank you so very much for helping me,” I then released him from my embrace, causing his eyes to widen as he looked away, tapping me on my shoulder as his tail began to swing around in excitement.

“S-sure, having some dragon ruler bully my younger sister would be a stain on my prid—Ah … forget it.” Ryra closed his eyes and let out a big sigh. When he opened them, he frowned as if he was furious about something. “Yeah … Thanks for the healing, Hestia.”

Ryra strutted forward to his mother’s surprise, causing her to gasp. “… What exactly happened down there, Hestia?”

I wanted to explain it to her, but it was better for everybody to hear the story from my brother first. Therefore, I shrugged, and joked how I owed him some good stew after this was over.

When the three of us transformed back into dragons, Ryra gave everybody the full story the moment we left Frozen Nest, going into detail with whom we met and also how he encountered the two dragons rulers and how he told them about me. It felt almost like a full report. Seeing his older brother, Phsothophus, nod along made me question if Ryra did this kind of thing often.

[“Most importantly, Dragon Ruler Maustoovaka did not show a hint of kindness during the entire meeting; rather, he showed the minimum courtesy he needed towards me, but disregarded Hestia’s existence all together, aside from her role as a possible heir,”] Ryra said, causing Maustoovaka’s people to become rowdy, only for them to be silenced when Kahalameet snarled at them.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

At least my siblings are on my side. That promise seems to be true, I thought when I saw Kahalameet, Phsothophus, Wendriosa, and Nong all stare daggers at Maustoovaka, looking like they almost wanted to kill him.

Ryra continued, [“Due to the risk he presumed Hestia would bring, he attempted to coerce her into completely stepping away from the succession, Father. Different from how I handed my support to my older brother. He wanted her gone, isolated on Frozen Nest, from the way I heard it.”]

[“Do not twist my words, fledgling,”] Maustoovaka interjected. [“I have told the truth as well, and while most of what you said resemble mine, do not presume.”]

[“He is correct, Ryranakus,”] Eltharion agreed, unnerving me a bit. [“Your actions were caused by that presumption, and while you are within your rights to protect your sister, while you report to me, I only wish to hear the unblemished truth. I can make that assumption myself … Maustoovaka.”]

[“Yes, Father. I apologize,”] Ryra bowed his head, and while he might have been scolded, I guess he expected that. He got the words out, though, and this was enough to agitate the imperial members. [“As such, when Hestia wanted to reject it and even blamed the dragon ruler for how his infighting with Dragon Ruler, Arkanator, almost caught Hestia in the blast radius, he lashed out. He wanted to forcefully ‘educate’ her, which I presume … is very similar to what the other fledglings did when they ‘educated’ Fargryneill.”]

[“Again, with these presumptions!”] Maustoovaka shouted. [“That whelpling knows nothing about our culture, and she wanders into my lair to lecture—”]

[“Maustoovaka, speak one more word, and I will rip all your scales off your corpse to present to your family,”] Mom snapped, and with the help of her aura, silenced the audacious dragon.

[“Still, he is correct.”] Eltharion shook his head. [“I’ve heard enough, Ryranakus. You are dismissed. With such a report, you disappoint me, Son. I told you off once, and you did not listen. I will only hear the truth, no assumptions.”]

Why are you being like this?

Ryra nodded without a single argument and went to his mother’s and brother’s side, before sending me a “thumbs up” image through [Telepathy]. Was this actually helping, or what the hell was I not understanding?

Regardless, the stage was set and I came forward, retelling everything Ryra had just said, only without adding any exaggerations. I kept it as close to the truth as possible and even mentioned the individuals who died and fought for me during my escape. I couldn’t see Fehrkatruk or his friends around, but if his father actually died, then he deserved to be mentioned.

[“… It isn’t uncommon for other dragons to kill each other. There is no law against such a thing when it is done with proper reasoning, and to oppose your dragon ruler, physically attacking and objecting his command can be seen as such,”] Eltharion said, once again frustrating me, even if this was normal. This was similar to attacking your president or king; this could be considered a traitorous action. [“Still … I shall note the ones who died today in your protection. Protecting a member of the imperial family is loyalty to me. Hedthalak …”]

At least he seems to be reasonable. Somewhat …

I left my experiences after I escaped into the magma ocean out of my recital, since it had nothing to do with the cause of today’s accident. Well, considering I was missing for a long time, should it be put into consideration? Then again, maybe not thinking of the toad was for the better.

[“You are not at fault, Princess Hestia.”]

The decision was made swiftly after I was done. It almost seemed like Eltharion already knew the answer and he just wanted to go through the procedures.

[“Maustoovaka, you are lucky you are a dragon ruler; otherwise, I would have punished you even further for personally inciting a civil war within your own nest!”] Eltharion condemned. [“I put you in command instead of my clan because you proved that you were worthy of it! Over 2.500 years you’ve ruled, yet when a young rank B seemingly threatens the peace you wanted, you assumed that it was up to you to ‘correct’ her? Melloxtressa’s daughter? After all that happened to her, you deemed it right to steal away Frozen Nest’s princess?”]

Yet, the fire dragon did not speak. No excuses left his mind, as he already knew what the outcome would be. As Eltharion said, he was lucky. The punishment was a simple lecture.

[“… Hmph. Kahalameet, this is your supporter. Deal with him yourself.”]

[“Yes, Father.”]

[“Your wisdom astounds me, my Emperor. I shall think it through better,”] Maustoovaka said as he lowered his head, resting it as if his problems were gone.

The punishment was a simple lecture.

I stared at Eltharion in disbelief, but due to our height difference, it didn’t even register in his mind. To him, my opinion on the matter probably didn’t matter. His own daughter nearly got killed, or just imprisoned, yet all he could do was some finger wagging? He might be the emperor, but did he have any influence outside of his strength?

Kramps said. Oh, listless son of mine—you, the one who rejected our race’s purpose, the one who left mortal affairs behind—this is how you spend your last years?>

I dug my claws into the ground as I listened to Kramps’s words, feeling them affect my opinion of my dragon father, driving me away from my ability to empathize with this old dragon in front of me. Yet, that wasn’t the coup de grace.

[“Now, to your crime, Princess Hestia.”] He lowered his head. [“Bring out that dragonslayer you harbored. Which dragon did she kill for that blood?”]

What?

[“Eltharion. This is a warning. Do not approach this topic,”] Mom defended me. [“You’ve no need to question her about her retainer’s duty to protect her.”]

My dragon father snarled in return. [“My law states otherwise, Melloxtressa. A dragon may kill another dragon if there are reasons enough to warrant it, but this only applies to true dragons and our kirin cousins. None, not even the wyverns and dragonewts, may kill a dragon within Kargryx or Loatyx unless ordered by another dragon.”]

The two approached each other. Once again, two tactical nukes loomed over me.

Eltharion continued, [“I know it cannot be your blood. To create the anti-dragon blood needed to pierce through our draconic abilities and scales, it is impossible to use rank S or higher blood, as it would turn it into something else entirely. Yet, I know you would not order your flight to hand over blood willingly, knowing how much they idolize and trust you. Unless you hid the death of a feral ice dragon on Frozen Nest, which is another crime altogether, then tell me. How was an arrow with anti-dragon blood made after Hestia and her retainers arrived on Kargryx?”]

… Right, how was it made? Even I was confused how Vifi got her hands on those crossbow bolts. Sure, those bolts saved me, but how did she get them in the first place?

Despite everybody’s confusion, Mom shook her head in irritation before taking a step back. [“Hestia, summon Vifi.”]

[“Mom … from the sound of it, this—”]

[“Trust me, the only one who will be embarrassed today will be your father. Summon her.”]

I nodded and trusted Mom. Without further ado, I opened the subspace, only to flinch when I saw Vifi already prepared to come out. Well, that was one surprise, but the other was the person behind her.

Before I could say anything, Vifi stepped forward with her quiver. Opening it, she pulled all her bolts from it, revealing the horrifying stench coming from it.

“Drikanat!” (Dragon Slayer!) Everybody shouted that word, with most even stamping over in an attempt to kill Vifi, only for Mom to drive the crowd back with a blizzard-like ice breath, further destroying Inferno Nest.

[“… Demonkin, you dare bring dragonslayer arrows to my empire? Misusing Princess Hestia’s trust for such a fiendish action?”] Eltharion bellowed with flames in his eyes, looking like he would kill Vifi in the blink of an eye once he got confirmation. [“What true dragon did you kill?”]

I placed my foot down, blocking his eyes from Vifi, but seeing this black terror slowly coming closer only reminded me of Maustoovaka’s chase. I gulped as my mind imagined getting chased by Eltharion, making me want to flee as fast as I could. Yet, Vifi was my friend and party member. I would rather become a fugitive and exile myself from this home than to abandon my friends.

It looked like I had to finally use Grandmother’s crown. There was no way—

“None, ‘Your Majesty.’”

Yet, Vifi’s answer stopped me.

[“Do not lie to me, humanoid.”] Eltharion came even closer, but now, Mom stood in his way. [“Melloxtressa, move aside.”]

[“I warned you. Who is the one with the brighter flames?”] Mom said before my “second surprise” finally spoke.

“Yo, Father!”

With a single sentence, every single member of the imperial family froze in place and snapped their heads to the subspace, or rather, to who was inside it.

It was Neill.

[“Far—Fargrynei—”]

[“Sister!”] Wendriosa immediately transformed in front of Eltharion, spewing the mana mist to cloud his sight of his second daughter. Our eldest sister jumped in front of the subspace in her humanoid form, eyes widened as she saw Neill wink at her with a fat grin. “Y-your horn. It looks absolutely splendid!”

“Ha, thanks!” She showed her a thumbs up before widened her arms, letting her loose kimono drop a bit. “By Father’s horns, what are you staring at? Father only forbad our youngest from entering this subspace and I can’t come out without her help, so come on!”

Wendriosa charged inside and immediately embraced her younger sister without a moment of rest, saying nothing as the two of them simply enjoyed each other’s presence. Once they released each other, Neill laughed, joking about how clingy Wendriosa was despite only being away for a few years, prompting the latter to nearly smack her in the head.

“You’ve gotten cheeky, I see,” she complained with an irritated smirk, but eventually grinned. “You’ve changed.”

“I’ve outgrown my fears and learned to grow up, I guess,” Neill replied. “Which is why I came today. A bit too early to actually do the whole family greet-and-meet, but our little sister needs my help right now. So, let’s spare the rest for when I actually come back home.”

“Right … You’re right, my little rank A … You’ve actually grown, huh?”

Wendriosa, while wiping away some tears, stepped out of the portal, letting Neill greet our other siblings and the empress-mothers before turning to Vifi and Eltharion. She showed the former a thumbs up, complimenting her in public of what she did.

“‘Your Majesty,’” Vifi began. “You see, despite what you accused me of, I did not break a single law while I was on Miononbolax. I did not kill a sane true dragonkin, nor even a feral one, only injured them. Even then, whenever I did fight one—outside of one encounter in the blizzard—it was under the orders of Hestia herself. She is a true dragonkin, right?”

She then raised the arrows in the air. “Also, I think you know this, but possessing dragon-related items or being a dragonslayer isn’t forbidden in Kargryx per se. Loatryx possesses those rules, and I have never brought these arrows into any Loatryxian city or their territory.”

… Hold on, is that why she always asked me to hide her quiver inside my storage when we went to Iceskale? My body stopped for a moment as I recalled every time I had to do that.

[“I lectured her on the laws,”] Mom supported.

[“Yeah, same, Father!”] Neill exclaimed with joy. [“However, I guess you want to know the actual truth behind this matter, right? Well, the person who approached Empress-Mother Melloxtressa on this idea was me.”]

[“Fargryneill?”] Eltharion tilted his head, mouth slightly agape.

[“Father, let me be frank to you. I hated my time on Miononbolax,”] Neill stated firmly. [“Yes, I love all of you. You and everybody else in our family are the reason why I would even consider coming back, despite all the friends I’ve made on Altrust. And I will come back, but not for our family, but for our youngest sibling—Hestia. Why? Because somebody has to be around to protect her from other true dragons.”]

[“Fargryneill, I understand your time in our home hasn’t been great, and while I am relieved to see you safe, I need to first end this hearing. Later, my daughter, we can speak later.”]

Yeah, do that in front of me, will you? If he wanted to make me jealous then he succeeded. The warm love he showed Neill disgruntled me, making me take a deep breath as I had to endure this sight.

[“Well, then you are wrong, Father.”] However, it didn’t last long. Neill was iron-focused. [“This matter concerning Vifi’Yok’s dragonblood arrows does concern me. After all, I was the one to give her my blood.”]

“Kraaah!” I shouted in shock, and I wasn’t the only one.

Despite the noise, Neill continued. “As you said, my first 20 years on Mionobolax hasn’t been good. It was horrible, in fact, and despite every single time I complained to you about how everybody was treating me for my kirin heritage, you did nothing. You stayed in your cave. I had to rely on my siblings for help, as the empress-mothers couldn’t go around denouncing every single fledgling taunting me! Not to mention, I never felt safe in Inferno Nest, especially … Especially with how even Brother Ryranakus couldn’t do anything here. Do you not see that your children are forced to go through all the crap you think is ‘necessary for dragons to grow up strong?’”

[“Fargryneill, hold on, this isn’t—”]

“No! Stop fleeing from it!” Neill shouted. “Because I knew what Hestia would go through, I gave Vifi a trump in case anything severe happened to her. Why? Because I learned from my siblings that we have to stick together; we are the only ones who will. As her older sister, I have a responsibility to help Hestia, just like how Sister Wendriosa helped me endure the fact I should be ashamed for being a hybrid! The fact my blood was used to help Hestia escape the torment is enough to make me proud! And yet, here I see my own father acting no different from a fledgling taunting another due to their birth circumstance.”

Eltharion’s mouth fully opened up.

Neill stepped as close as she could to the portal, peering up with her three colored horn. “Hestia is my sister. How is she not your daughter when her soul was split in two, giving birth to a ‘new person?’ ‘Hestia’ is your daughter, Father, and she and her friends have done nothing but defend themselves after you left your empire to rule itself.”

Neill then called for Vifi, prompting her to crush all the bolts in her hand, proving they’ve talked this through. She then threw the broken projectiles, prompting Mom to pulverize them with a floating scale. Apparently, the purpose of those bolts was now gone.

“Yo, Hestia!” Neill called me out. “No debts between family, but I think we’re even with one of them.”

What the hell are you talking about, I owe you more than you do me. Hehe.

[“Yeah, love you, thanks!”]

With those words delivered, Vifi re-entered the portal and it was closed. I turned back to Eltharion but only saw him staring in silence, frozen in place from what he had heard. Seeing this, Mom told me we would be leaving.

I nodded and was about to agree with it, before moving closer to Eltharion. Seeing him not move an inch, I let out a deep sigh.

[“Father!”] I called out, finally making him look at me. [“‘In the lower cavern underneath the black stone, we saw the rise of the orange glowing tulips. Your eyes glowed like the core of the planet; a brilliant red as all of you swore with your tails locked together.’ You should know those words.”]

[“Whe-where did you … You spoke with her. You-you’ve spoken with her?”] he mumbled but quickly turned silent again.

Seeing him like this, I decided to not give him Grandmother’s crown.

With nobody left to argue with our departure, Mom and her entourage escorted me back to Frozen Nest. Many of the younger ice dragons cheered how I stood my ground and protected the dignity of the ice dragon flight. “You are our princess!” they said, causing some of the elder scales to nod in silence.

The vibes seemed to have changed. It almost made me feel like I was being accepted by them. Honestly, maybe I should have considered their words a bit deeper here, but I couldn’t imagine the repercussions today’s event would have on the future. I was too exhausted.

Yet, I couldn’t escape it. It quickly unfolded itself when we arrived in Iceskale as Mom wanted to take a break at our dragonewt mansion. When we approached the city in our dragonewt form, my eyes widened when I saw all the people gathering on the floating city.

“Princess Hestia! Princess Hestia! Princess Hestia!”

“Welcome back our Princess! You’ve survived Inferno Nest!”

“Empress Melloxtress! Dragon Ruler Alextraxus! They’ve brought our Princess back!”

<696 wyverns, beastmen, dragons, drakes followers gained>

[Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]: 48581>

… I hate this.

‘Using a rivalry to—Shit.’

This was probably the first time I felt disgusted of having gained fans.